[Image from Unsplash]
As in other cases, challenges can also present opportunities. Here’s what you could discover at DeviceTalks Boston, which runs May 10–11. (Register here!)
Sustainability for environmental benefit
Medical devices can produce a profoundly positive effect on individuals needing care, but they’re also an environmental problem because they create enormous pressure on waste streams once they’re outdated and discarded.
Opportunity: Medical device makers can avoid this growing catastrophe by building sustainability into their designs. In two different sessions, leaders Canon Virginia, Gradian Health Systems and Sagentia Innovation will examine how medical devices can be made with a view toward global health.
Healthcare equity
How can we ensure life-saving medical technology reaches everyone who needs it?
Kevin Bourque, Abbott division VP of research and development
Opportunity: Medical device companies must continue to push for equitable access to their products. For example, Abbott’s HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are clinically proven to extend life to five years and beyond, yet the company estimates 15,000 advanced heart failure patients have median lifespans of less than a year. To address this disparity, Abbott leaders assembled a panel featuring Kevin Bourque, VP of R&D for HeartMate 3, a left ventricular assist device, and Dr. Robert Kormos, division VP, Global Medical Affairs, Heart Failure. Abbott also enlisted Dr. Robert S.D. Higgins, MSHA, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and EVP, Mass General Brigham, as well as a patient who has transitioned off the HeartMate 3 and onto a transplanted heart.
